Library leaving by August 1st

According to South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds, South Dundas council intends to consider a resolution to support maintaining a library in Williamsburg at the May 21 council meeting.

Whether or not council as a whole supports maintaining a branch in Williamsburg has never been put to a vote at the South Dundas council table.

When The Leader asked if council supports maintaining a library in Williamsburg, what impact such a resolution will have?, Erika Heesen, Communications and Marketing Librarian for the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry County Library, instead of directly addressing the question, answered: “The SD&G Library Board decided at their December 17, 2012 meeting that the Williamsburg Branch would be consolidated with the Morrisburg Branch, including the reallocation of staff, hours of operation and resources as operationally feasible.”

At the same time as council is pondering support for a Williamsburg branch, the Township of South Dundas has asked the SD&G library to vacate the Williamsburg building by August 1, 2013.

“We’re confident the move will go smoothly,” said Heesen. The collections, furniture, etc. that are currently in the library branch will be re-allocated to other branches of the library system, with the majority moving to the Morrisburg branch.

“Staff at the Williamsburg branch will not lose any hours of work,” said Heesen, explaining that consolidated, longer opening hours will begin sooner than anticipated at the Morrisburg branch.

Services that will continue to be offered locally include the Visiting Library Service which is for retirement homes and the home-bound and 24/7 access to borrowing eBooks and eAudiobooks online. “The library also plans to offer Summer Reading Club as an outreach program in Williamsburg this summer,” said Heesen.

Also in the planning stages is a book pick up and drop off location at a Williamsburg retail location.

Although the details have yet to be confirmed, the Library hopes to have that service available as of August 1, 2013 so that Williamsburg residents do not experience any interruption in book delivery, according to Heesen.

The SD&G Library is funded by the United Counties of SD&G. The Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry County Library Board is made up of three citizens and four County Councillors.

Library Board members are appointed by County Council for a four-year term and serve without remuneration.

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“A lot of people didn’t even know it had happened until it was over,” said South Dundas Councillor Evonne Delegarde, in reference to the Boil Water Advisory in August.

On December 20th, Chief Administrative Officer Stephen McDonald put forth a final version of the new Boil Water Advisory Protocol. Discussion ensued and it was eventually decided that more work needed to be done on the protocol, leaving the motion deferred until a later date.

The report included lists of establishments to be notified, lists of places to mount warning advertisements, and lists of media to be contacted in the event of another emergency situation.

It was also suggested that a database of resident contact information be compiled so that people might be contacted via phone, whether by township employees or by a paid outside source.

After reading the report and listening to McDonald’s recommendation, Delegarde pointed out, “a lot of elderly don’t get out” to see posted signs in the community.

She told council: “my preference would be to go door-to-door right off the start.”

Councillor Archie Mellan reminded council: “the first few hours are probably the most critical.” He maintained that “whatever (method) is the most thorough and the quickest is the best, in my mind.”

Council discussed the positives and negatives of several methods for conveying critical news to the residents of South Dundas.

In terms of telephone versus door-to-door, Mayor Steven Byvelds said, “most young people don’t use land lines anymore and most cell phones aren’t listed. Door-to-door is our best and most economical option.”

McDonald reminded council that “our response is contingent on how many people we have available to do it.”

Deputy-Mayor Jim Locke suggested the Lions Clubs as possible volunteers to help in such a situation.

It was agreed by everyone that a resource base of volunteers would be a very valuable tool. The underlying idea being that the more people on hand to spread the information, the quicker people are informed.

In the end, McDonald agreed to come back to council, in January, with revisions to the protocol.

“The construction of the Iroquois Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) upgrades is anticipated to commence on or about February 15, 2012 and be completed by September 16, 2013,” reads a South Dundas public notice.

At the February 7th South Dundas council meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Stephen McDonald recommended that council accept the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) report and “proceed with the Iroquois sewage collection system rehabilitation work.”

According to OCWA’s report, they “were able to secure a tender price less than the estimated project cost” for the WWTP rehabilitation project. And so, “this project budget analysis would help to allocate additional dollars to the secondary project (sewage collection system rehabilitation.)”

Originally, South Dundas was granted $18 million from Infrastructure Canada (INFC) for the WWTP upgrades. According to a letter from OCWA, “we obtained approval to use any savings from the $18 million to conduct rehabilitation work on the sewage collection system.”

“The plan,” they reported, “is to conduct the sewer rehabilitation work alongside the Iroquois WWTP upgrade so both projects may be completed by the funding deadline of March 31, 2014.”

Council agreed with McDonald’s recommendation with Mayor Steven Byvelds pointing out that the subject “is pretty straight forward.”

During the weekend of March 31st and April 1st, the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SD&G) Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Auxiliary Unit set out for a third time to raise funds in support of the Special Olympics.

Over the past months the SD&G Auxiliary Unit has been running fundraising events for the Special Olympics (Adopt an Athlete) and they have had great success.

The SD&G Auxiliary Unit members first raised $2,000 last November by accepting individual pledges. The SD&G Auxiliary Unit then set up a toll booth at the entrance of the Winchester Mike Dean’s and Tim Horton’s the weekend of March 17th and 18th collecting $5,125.

This past weekend, the SD&G Auxiliary Unit members set up another toll booth at the Morrisburg Canadian Tire and the Morrisburg Tim Horton’s. Another $2,912 was raised in support of the ‘Adopt an Athlete’ program.